'Desecration' in a Place of Refuge

Diana Glazebrook

doi:10.5130/csr.v11i1.3449

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Published: Aug 12, 2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5130/csr.v11i1.3449

Keywords:

refugees, relocation, sacred land, violence, New Guinea, Papua New Guinea

Diana Glazebrook

Australian National University

Abstract

In this paper I explore two related questions: how does a particular site come to be perceived as sacred, and what is the impact of the destruction of something sacred when it occurs in a place of ‘refuge’? This study is situated on the island of New Guinea, in the experiences of West Papuan people from the Indonesian Province of Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), living as refugees across the international border in Papua New Guinea. The inquiry is grounded in two instances involving a refugee population in a place of refuge. The first instance involves the burning of a church built by a refugee congregation, and the second involves the large-scale occupation by a refugee population of another people’s land. A doubling effect is intended here. Forced migration can simultaneously render refugees vulnerable to the violence of others, and in the process of resettlement, refugees may have no real choice but to engage in actions that violate the land of others.

Issue

Vol 11 No 1 (2005): Desecration

Section

Desecration (Peer Reviewed)

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Author Biography

Diana Glazebrook, Australian National University

DIANA GLAZEBROOK is a post-doctoral research fellow at the Centre for Cross-Cultural Research at the Australian National University. She has conducted research and written about decision-making by West Papuan refugees in Papua New Guinea and Hazara (Afghani) refugee experiences of the conditions of temporary protection in Australia.

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Diana Glazebrook, Australian National University